My eyes are officially opened.

As my time in Thailand has progressed, I've found that I have very mixed feelings towards this place. Perhaps it's because I always learned about Southeastern Asia through Western eyes, but I always thought it seemed like a relatively magical place with beautiful architecture, kind people, strange ways of life, and a culture that thrived on respect and tradition.

Well. Respect and tradition my ass. If I've learned anything at all, it's that America is an amazing country and I'm ashamed to have ever lost faith in it (which I did for quite some time, as if I've been alive long enough to say that).

There are so many stigmas about American culture that other countries place on us, even ones that we learn about in our classrooms at home, as if we are the root of all evil or something. We dress too casually, we're loud, girls act too provocatively, we care too much about what others think, we're obsessed with TVs and other forms of mass media... We're too this, and too that. We've lost sight of history, of reverence, of tradition... The list goes on. Layer after layer of negative stereotypes.

And even here in Thailand, in my Thai Language and Thai Civilization classes, they teach us all these rules about how to act towards the elderly, how to bow properly, how to speak formally... because God forbid we do something wrong to disgrace their culture and further shame ourselves as 'ferangs', what they call foreigners (literal translation: white person).

Guess what? Not once have I seen a Thai student treat the elderly how we are taught to treat them. Not once I have seen a Thai student treat a waiter at a restaurant like a human being. Not once have I seen a Thai student give anything to the poor or the crippled that beg on the streets. Not once have I seen a Thai student respect a professor in the classroom.

The girls dress more provocatively on a daily basis than me or any of my friends have ever dressed in our entire lives. Girls who are wider than a yard stick believe they're "fat", so they wear more make-up and higher heels to feel prettier. Every restaurant or street-side vendor has a TV on some Thai soap opera or a radio blaring Western Top-40 music. Students absolutely never listen in class, nor do they take notes, nor do they show any interest whatsoever.

That said: why have I always learned about my own culture from such a negative light when we aren't any different than the rest of them? Why do all these unfavorable stereotypes fall on our shoulders and not theirs? It isn't fair that when we travel we're told to be careful because so many people dislike us. It isn't fair that we're considered 'racist' for having slavery when I hear Thai people yell "FERANG!" at me at least twice a week.

Believe it or not, this isn't a rant against Thai culture, regardless of the harsh or negative statements. This is the first time I've put these thoughts into words, and they're things that have been frustrating me since the day I became accustomed to life here. At first I just got angry all the time, angry at how hypocritical Thai culture seems. Then I realized that the anger stemmed from a new found pride I have in being American, and I came to see that we aren't nearly as "bad" as we or others are told.

Every culture is one in the same; we just live differently. (And thank God for that or else this world would be boring as hell.)